I struggled for several days about how to write this column. In the comments of my column nearly every week, someone will ask “how can we better help the singles?” Today, I'd like to take the chance to point out where we are failed, and how everyone could do better. It is a topic I have wanted to write about, but have worried about writing for fear of offending others with my brute honesty (although I do try and be bluntly honest in each column I do write).
My fear in writing on this topic today was that I would offend people in my own life, or make them think I was talking specifically about them. So, dear readers, if you'll allow me this one moment, I promise to get back to the subject at hand--the truth about singles in the LDS church.
I can't write the truth about single life as it applies to every person. Everyone is unique, everyone has their own set of standards, and everyone interacts with people differently. But at the same time, there are large, sweeping generalities that hold true across most societies. And how the LDS society views and treats singles is one of those generalities.